JOHOR BARU: A 43-year-old sundry store owner pleaded guilty at the Sessions Court here for bribing a civil servant with RM600 in November last year.

The accused, Low Yet Keong, made the plea after the charges were read to him in front of Judge Ahmad Kamal Arifin Ismail, here, on Wednesday (June 14).

According to the charge sheet, the accused had given a bribe of RM600 to an enforcement officer at the Iskandar Puteri City Council (MBIP) as an inducement not to take action against him for violating his business licence by selling wet items.

The offence was allegedly committed at his store on Jalan Emas Putih 5, Taman Sri Skudai, Johor Baru, at 12.50pm on Nov 1, 2022.

The act is an offence under Section 17(b) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 for offering bribes.

The act carries a fine of five times the bribe amount or RM10,000, whichever is higher, and a maximum jail term of 20 years.

The case was prosecuted by MACC prosecution officer Nik Lokman Hakim Nik Mohd Nor, while the accused was represented by Shaik Saleem SM Daud.

During the proceeding, Nik Lokman Hakim had requested that the sentence be postponed to another date and the bail be set at RM10,000 with one surety, along with additional terms for the accused to hand over his international passport and to report to the MACC office once a month.

Shaik Saleem, in mitigation, had requested a lower bail as the accused had already paid a bail of RM3,000 to the MACC office and is currently taking care of his wife and three children aged between 9 and 16.

“The accused is also currently receiving treatment for his diabetes and high blood pressure,” he said, adding that the accused has been selling dried fish for more than 10 years.

The court then set bail at RM5,000 with one surety along with the additional terms and set July 31 for the case mention.

The accused had posted bail.